Spring
has been an incredibly tough time for a number of our chatters.
Trouble has befallen many. However the chatters of PeopleWithMS
have proven incredibly resiliant and supportive
of each other. Someone has always been there to help with a
sympathetic ear, a helping hand, a letter or card. As each of us
runs into some troubles, be it medical, marital, or miscellaneously
messy, someone has been there. It is the unsolicited acts of help
and support which are most impressive. People stepping up to the
plate to do whatever they can to help, in their own fashion, to the
extent of their abilities. Sometimes all it takes is a well timed
joke in chat, an e-mailed picture, or a simple postcard to turn a
person's day and attitude around.

Caliegirl

My
name is Mary (caliegirl). I live in Wisconsin with my husband of
33 yrs. We have a son, a daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandsons.

I was
diagnosed with MS in 2004 after having a spinal tap. I had
symptoms for about 4 years before. Some of the symptoms I had were
legs being heavy when walking, balance issues and double vision in
one eye.Hearing the words "you have
MS"were very deviating to hear but at the
same time I was very relieved to finally get an answer after so
many years of searching. The neurologist put me on Rebif but not
for long because of the irregular blood test I had while on it.
Then I went on copaxone but that drug didn't work for me. I went
on Tysabri and had 13 infusions of this before I stopped it. I had
to change neurologists because of insurance reasons. I was off all
MS drugs until I got worried about not being on any shots so I
told my current neurologist of my concerns and he suggested going
back on Tysabri or do plasma exchange. I opted to give Tysabri
another chance. So now I'm back on Tysabri (restarted Oct, 2008)for 6 mo. to see how I do. Before going back on Tysabri I
had a antibody blood test for Tysabri.

I worked
for 17 yrs. as a day care provider before I had to quit due to the
MS. When you work at a day care it is very stressful and you need
to be on your "toes" all the time which is why I had to
quit. I'm sure all you parents understand what I mean. :)

Linda-NV is
coordinating all Room Administrators Please contact her with any
problems. She may make some suggestions about how to be a more
effective Room Administrator. Work with her she has some very good
ideas. We need Team work! She will help with anything she can when it
comes to helping others in chat.

Norma
is coordinating chats.
Please contact
her for any changes. All you have to do is look at the schedule for and
find a place that
fits when hosting is good for you. If somebody is
already hosting
then, pop in to support them, and let them know you'll back-up, or
buddy host
with them. Just let her know what you
choose! Norma's email is normajjohnston@att.net

The Chat Schedule breaks things down by day,
and show
the equivalent times in different time zones. Hopefully this
will make it
a bit clearer how an Eastern Standard Time relates to your personal
timezone or
country.

Reading the schedule is easy:
Just click on the day of the week to jump down. and then look
down from your local time zone on top
to the time you are interested in => bold times are when hosts
have volunteered to be present.

Knowing someone is available to provide support at dependable, specific
local
times makes a chat more successful.

Please, if you go in chat and
a host does not answer you right away, please wait, Our hosts
do a 2 hours stretch and need
bathroom time and coffee time. So if they're away right at
the sec you
arrive, be patient, they will come back.

I
am the librarian53. My name is Libby. I have asked the room to call me
Lib. I am in Arkansas 40 miles from Graceland Elvis's home in Memphis,
TN. I was dxed in July, 2005. As I was hit I was effected by the light
alot. I couldn't walk without holding on to something. (The wall or
anything.) I didn't need the strength, just the touch. I was normal in
everyway except I did fall alot 6 months before I was dxed. I was
taking care of my mom and didn't want to break anything, so I became
the best faller!! My dad passed away in 2003 on Christmas Eve so I was
taking care of my mom. She passed away Jan. 20, 2005, I was dxed with
MS that July. I was married for the 2nd time June, 2004. I got divorced
in the year 2000, so I never had MS during my first marriage. I use a
walker or an electric wheel chair to get around now. I was an
elementary librarian up until this June at which I retired on
disabilities. I enjoy talking to people with the same problems like MS
as I do. I am 53 now and have went through the adjustments of having
MS. My husband supports me and is very caring towards me. I have 2
daughters 23 and 25. I have 2 grandsons 1 year and 6 months. I am on
Tysabri infusions monthly. I took my 6th one 1/08/2008 Thursday. I
think it is an amazing drug. Many that I have talked to have been
helped out of the wheelchair and walking. I live in hopes in time it
will help me too! The only other medicene I have taken for MS is
Avonex. It did nothing for me and messed my mind up badly. My quality
of life was bad. The only pain that I have is in my right arm and my
bladder has been effected..............So for those two things I take
medicene for. My sleep has been effective alot. That's my
story!! (more
)

Dominick

I was born and
raise in Rockford, Illinois been
married twice the first one only last a year. Then my high school sweet
heart mother came in hte store where i work and told me that she was
getting a divorce and I told her I was too. So she gave her number and
it took me 2 weeks to
get the nerve to call her, because I was afraid she wouldn't want to go
out with me. She only lived about 1 hour from my home town. We went
through different high school she went to a high school that had some
mixed people. My high school had some snotty kids that there butt
didn't stink and there parents were rich and better off all of us. I
didn't have nothing to with them at all my parents were rich too, but I
just didn't believe in being a real stuck kid in high school. I was
very different in my parents mind and my brother & sister mind. I
just didn't want to hang out those kind of people at all. I really
didn't believe in a lot money at all. When you have a lot of money
people
seem to look down on you and put you in a catagory of rich snotty kid.
My wife now grew up on the west side of town where all the low income
and poor people live. I spend a lot of time at my wife high school
because her friends fit into my life style that I wanted to be. I told
parents it was too bad that's the way I wanted to live and until this
day they still do it I should keep our last name and keep up with our
family image. So when my Uncle fired me from the family business that
my Dad father started. My Dad and his 3 brother and their Dad before my
grandfather death had 6 big grocery store I started working when I was
14. I was fired, because my Uncles was mad at my Dad for breaking up
the family and leaving the business. (more
)

IQTEETH

Hi you
all know me as IQTEETH or some may
know me as Noelle. I am a
married mother of two beautiful girls that are 14 months and 2 1/2,
Amanda and Lillia. I am a stay at home mom who has put her career in
dentistry on hold to give my family all I can.

I
have had
RRMS since 2004 and have had a rough go at it. I have been
on copaxone, betaseron, and neither gave me any relief from constant
flares. I have now been on Tysabri for about 14 months and have been
pretty much flare free and I swear by the drug.

I
have been
through a lot, the multiple doses of Iv steroids caused me
to develop a rare complication called AVN = avascular necrosis which
ate away at my hip bones and in 2008 I had 2 hip replacements. I Am now
doing much better from that and I know there will not be anymore
steroids in my future.

If
anyone
ever has any questions about anything I'm easy to approach so feel free
to ask me anything. (more
)

SFMark

story to follow, but lots of interesting pics, and a real estate offer you can't refuse . . .

FrankC

My story actually
begins seven years before I
was diagnosed with MS. On July 11, 1977 I was working 3 to 11 shift in
my job as a police officer. A very severe storm hit a tree. A limb that
weighed over 2 tons was hung up on a small branch and down across the
road. They sent my partner and I to see if we could get the limb down
so that we could get traffic moving around it instead of under it. To
make an extra long
story a bit short I grabbed one branch to pull and my partner grabbed
another
to push; we figured if we could move the limb just a little it would
fall
and then we could move traffic around it. Instead of just falling the
limb snapped and flew down hitting me right on my knees and going down
to my feet crushing just about everything. Between 1977 and 79 I had
seven
major surgeries on my knees to my ankles from then to date I have had
30+ surgeries on my legs not to mention the surgeries that have
resulted on other parts of my body directly resulted from the 1977
injury.. (more
)

RWells

My
MS story begins back in 1979 as far as I can remember … it started when
I slept, waking
up to a wet bed …I
was 40 years old and not a drinker, I
forgot about it till next week
the same thing .. going to the family GP he took bold samples and did a
regular check up found nothing wrong … this problem worsened over time
…1981 I went to a Urologisthe
put me through a battery of
tests including systscope bladder tests after several years of
progressively more intense testing ... nothing worked ... it got worse
... 1988 eye problems started
after seeing several eye doctors none could find the
problem or cure the double vision ... 1990 started having Severe neck pain left foot
drop caused me to fall down several times GP sent me to a neurologistHe tests me
for all kinds of things …. Electric muscle stimulation ...ect for two years … (more
)

TimJFloyd

I AM FROM THE BIG CITY
OF CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, HOME OF THE INFAMOUS CLEMSON TIGERS. I GUESS MY MS STORY GOES A LITTLE SOMETHING LIKE
THIS....... IN OCTOBER OF 2007 I STARTED HAVING A SHOOTING PAIN IN THE
LEFT SIDE OF
MY HEAD. I WOULD FEEL PRESSURE BUILD UP AND THEN RELEASE. WELL ME BEING
THE STUBBORN GUY THAT I AM, I DIDN'T GO TO THE DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY. THE
PAIN BECAME MORE AND MORE FREQUENT. I DID FINALLY GET TO THE DOCTOR,
AND HE SAID OK TIME FOR A CT SCAN OF MY BRAIN.ONCE MY CT SCAN WAS DONE I WENT BACK TO MY FAMILY DOCTOR. ALL
HE COULD
TELL ME WAS WE NEED TO DO AN MRI TOO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS OK BECAUSE
SOME QUESTIONS AROSE FROM THE CT SCAN.BY THIS TIME A DX OF HIGH BLOOD
PRESSURE HAD BEEN CONFIRMED AND MEDICATIONS STARTED. THE HEADACHES WERE
GONE.TWO DAYS LATER MY DOCTOR CALLS ME AND SAYS, "YOU NEED TO MEET
A
NEUROLOGIST IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM TOMORROW (SATURDAY). TALK ABOUT
ANXIETY.....NOT GONNA LIE ABOUT IT I WAS SCARED. WHAT COULD BE SO BAD
THAT I HAVE TO MEET A NEURO ON SATURDAY IN THE ER??? (more
)

GGBEE

I WAS BORN IN WASHINGTON STATE DECEMBER 4,
1976. I MARRIED MY WONDERFUL
HUSBAND JOHN, MAY 11, 1996. WE HAD OUR FIRST BABY RACHAEL, AUGUST 6,
1996, BUT SHE PASSED AWAY JUST TWO SHORT WEEKS LATER, DUE TO
PREMATURITY. WE WENT ON TO HAVE FOUR MORE BEAUTIFUL KIDS SOON AFTER.
TIMMY, JUSTIN AND TWIN'S, MCKAYLA AND MCKENZIE.

WE MOVED TO ANCHORAGE, ALASKA,
DECEMBER 7, 2001 AND HAVE MADE THIS OUR
NEW HOME. IT WAS A WONDERFUL LIFE CHANGE FOR US ALL.

I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH MULTIPLE
SCLEROSIS DECEMBER 31, 2007 AND STARTED
BETASERON JANUARY 1,2008. WE CAN DATE THIS ALL BACK TO AROUND 1997, THE
FATIGUE PART. I HAD MY FIRST BOUT WITH OPTIC NEURITIS IN 2006, WHICH
DOCTORS TOLD ME NOT TO BE ALARMED WHEN I READ ON THE INTERNET ABOUT IT,
BECAUSE M.S. WILL POP UP. WHEN I READ THE SYMPTOMS OF THAT, I HAD QUITE
A FEW ON THE LIST. MUCH OF WHAT I HAD ALREADY COMPLAINED ABOUT. (more
)

Ditto

I was diagnosed with
RRMS in 1997. I
worked as a processing supervisor in a commodities yard from 1980 to
1988. Took the whole year of 1989 off to ponder my predicament. Started
driving a cab in 1990 and started an AUTOCAD class in 1993. After the
class was over I finally got a job as a detailer at an engineering firm
in
Feb 1995. Was promoted to Designer in Oct. 1995. Quit driving cab in
FEB 1995. Ultimately
ending up at DANA CORP in Jan 1998. Lost that job in April 2001. The
official reason was I was let go for making threats against a
co worker. I was working on the PDGS cad system and training a 20 year
old to use the system while I was taking classes for the SDRC cad
system. (more
)

Cowpuncher

IT ALL BEGAN ON A COOL AUTUMN MORNING. THE AIR WAS
THICK WITH
ANTICIPATION, DO I OR DO I NOT HAVE THIS DREADED MONSTER. IF I HAVE IT,
ONLY THE NEUROLOGIST CAN SLAY THIS BEAST..... OR CAN HE? I WAS
OFFICIALLY DIAGNOSED ON NOVEMBER 15, 2005, THREE DAYS PRECEEDING THE
BIRTH OF MY SECOND DAUGHTER (RILEIGH) I HAVE TWO BY THE WAY THEIR AGES
ARE 3 AND 6, CAITLIN BEING THE OLDEST OF THE TWO. THAT I SUPPOSE IS THE
MOST IMPORTANT "CHAPTER" IN MY SAGA CALLED MS SUCKS. I WAS INITIALLY
DIAGNOSED AS RRMS, BUT TWO YEARS AFTER THAT I GOT THE WONDERFUL UPGRADE
TO SPMS!!!! SCORE ONE FOR JOHNSON!!!! THAT IS THE BASIC "CLIFFS NOTES"
VERSION OF MY MS STORY, I WILL GET INTO MORE DETAIL AT A LATER TIME AND
DATE THOUGH..... SO........ STAY TUNED (more
)

Erinn

I've been married
for almost 14 years and we have 3 daughters and 1
son. I'm blessed to be a stay at home Mom. I love to cook, scrapbook,
sharing coffee with a friend and taking care of the ones I love. I was
diagnosed with MS in Feb 2004 at the age 29. I thought I was going
blind. I couldn't see very well out of my Left eye. The eye doctor said
it was a blind spot and then he sent me to a specialist and he said I
had optic neuritis. I went to see a Nero doc and he told me they
thought I had MS but wanted me to wait for another relapse to diagnosed
it. I had a friend that told me I didn't need to wait. I went to get a
second opinion. This doctor said I had it after looking at my MRI. I
found out later he is the best doctor for MS in my area. I had to take
steroids by IV for a week and the oral for another week to help with my
vision. I have most of my vision back in my eye. (more
)

kleen

My name is Butch. Born
and raised in Florida. 54 years old. Was in the Army 10
years

Gulf
War
veteran 89 to 91. It was sarin nerve gas while in war. Experienced a
myriad of symptoms, with final
diagnosis being, multiple sclerosis. I am currently living in
Murfreesboro with Tennessee. Near
Nashville.(more
)

Lexus

I
was diagnosed with MS on October 23, 2008 after a bout of Optic
Neuritis. I had thought that I possibly had a dog hair stuck down
in
my eye (after a week + of my sight going in my right eye), so I had
left work early and went to the ER. The doctor asked if I knew I
had
“floaters” in both of my eyes, not just one. I told him I didn’t
and
he said that this was bigger than they could take care of and set me up
an immediate appt with the eye doctor. I went there, he did all
his
tests and said you have optic Neuritis and needed an MRI ASAP. He
said
it was a good chance I had MS, but wanted to be sure with the
MRI. My
son took me to the eye doctor praying I wasn’t going blind, poor
kid.
Next day, MRI completed, it was confirmed. I had MS lesions all over my
brain and was set up with an appt with the neurologist 2 weeks
later.
Of course I had to go through all the steroids prior, which to me was
hell. Granted, my house was never cleaner, but I could seriously
do
without the 10 lbs I gained! I seen the neuro, very nice man, who
wants me to get some good insurance before starting any treatment and
getting a spinal tap and blood work. Needless to say, I have no
insurance as of yet, despite all of my searching. (more
)

ZIN

I WAS
DXED IN 1995 BUT LIKE MANY OTHERS I
COULD HAVE BEEN DXED 6 YEARS
EARLIER AT THE AGE OF 29. I HAVE DONE
PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING TO FIGHT
MY MS ,FROM AVONEX 2+ YEARS AND
COPAXONE 2+ YEARS ALONG WITH 1 YEAR
OF PLASMAPHERICES, ACUPUNCTURE,
DIET,VITAMINS,JUICING MY FOOD YOU NAME I PRETTY MUCH TRIED IT. I FOUGHT
HARD TO BEAT MS PROBABLY TO
HARD AND ONCE I GAVE IN TO THE FACT THAT
MY RIDE WAS NOT GOING TO BE A
GOOD ONE AND I ADMITTED TO MYSELF THAT
I HAD MS AND THERE IS A BIGGER
PICTURE ALONG WITH THINGS HAPPEN FOR
A REASON MY MS WENT ON HOLD.
FIGHTING SO HARD I FEEL WAS FUELING
MY MS AND ONCE I JUST DECIDED
TO ENJOY TODAY FOR IT MAY BE THE
BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE MY MS jUST
CHILLED OUT BUT NOT BEFORE IT PUT ME
IN A WHEELCHAIR.I WAS A MAILMAN
FOR 17 YEARS BEFORE HAVING TO GIVE
IT UP DUE TO MY MS. I WAS AN
AVID WEIGHTLIFTER FOR 20 YEARS AND
REALLY MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUSH MY BODY. AT THE AGE OF 35 I ACTUALLY
ENTERED 2 BODYBUILDING CONTESTS
AND WINNING THEM BOTH.OK NOW ON TO
THE BEST PART MY FAMILY. I
HAVE MARRIED TO MY HIGH-SCHOOL SWEETHEART
FOR 27 YEARS AND I HAVE 3
BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS AND A GREAT FAMILY. I
ALSO HAVE MY 2 GERMAN SHEPHERDS
THAT KEEP ME COMPANY ALL DAY.
WHEN WEATHER PERMITS WE ARE OUTSIDE 80% OF THE TIME CUZ I HAVE TO STAY
BUSY. "HENCE WINTERS SUCK".I
AM KNOWN AS THE
DOG-WHISPER AND I LOVE TO COOK AND
DRINK MY WINE.(more )

TJ

Hello every one. My
name is Terry Warren I am 45 years young and live in Winsford Cheshire
England. I am separated; I have 2 kids Andrew 24 and Kathleen 20 and 2
beautiful grandkids Callum 6 months and Ameila 5 months.

I was DX in April 2008
after having 2 MRI and a spinal trap; I was told I had PPMS and when I
move hospitals I was told is RRMS I have not had an attack since
September 2005 when I lost most of the feeling in my legs and was out
of work for 10 weeks. Since them I have problems with my legs on a
daily basis I do use a working stick if I go out for the day and doing
a lot of walking. I also have problems with my balance and I have daily
headaches and I do find a get confused quite often. (more )

Vickie
aka Torri

I LIVE IN POCONO PA, I'M 43 SINGLE MOM OF 3 FANTASTIC
KIDS. I HAVE HAD MS PAST 16 YRS. PAST 4 IN WHEELCHAIR, I'M
DETERMINED TO GET OUT OF IT. I SELL CANDLES FOR MS, ALSO SELL CANDLES
AND AVON.
I LOVE LIFE, LAUGHING, NASCAR, FOOTBALL, BASEBALL.(more )

Click a pic if you dare ...

What are you looking at ?

Which One Is Mike's New
Grandson ?

LFShaw's
Benjamin, March 17th,, 2009

ChildrenfromanotherPlanet

Zoo Babies

Pick A
Card, Any Card ! ! !

Jack
demonstrates one of his many world famous card tricks with his
signature
deck of

PWMS
Welcomes!

Please,
we
have issued an All Points Bulletin for any new chatters
! Come in, ask them to send us their e-mail
addresses at PWMS@PeopleWithMS.com
; it is the only way we can send them out our weekly
newsletter. Also, let them know about your stories and
pictures, and perhaps ask if they'd like to submit one.! A great way to
get instant recognition, by appearing in the newsletter. Most
of us love to know more about each other and see who we chat with. When
no one is here and a new MSER comes in and reads our stories and poems
it helps to read and see how MSers deal with life.

Our
very own Late Night Mike has created his own special version of a
PeopleWithMS Video on Youtube. Click the image to the left to hop
on over
and check it out ! ! !

Linda-NV
has created a fantastic
new
video featuring many of your favorite PeopleWithMS chatters.
Download the video to see all your friends in action at:
ftp://ftp.peoplewithms.com/PWMS.wmv

(To save,
right click the link and " Save
As " to put it in some memorable place like your ' My
Received Files ' folder. If your computer, at
that moment, helpfully offers the choice to 'Save
or Open', you can probably open it with a program like
Windows Media Player, Real Player, or something similar and play the
video directly. If you want to save it for posterity, open
whatever program you have that can play videos, and navigate to your
Documents & Settings, My Documents, My Received Files folder to
play the video you saved.)

Happy Hour! Our hosts with the mostest! Deena &
Boomer

Monday 8-9PM EST

Bring a joke relax have a drink start your week with fun! This will
be held in our Happy Hour Room.

MONDAY NIGHT HAPPY HOUR

We want to give you all an invite.
To Boomers and Deenas Monday Happy Hour Night.
No subject within reason is taboo here.
Just a little warning now to beware.
Come on in, come on have no care.
And this really is no joke.
We aim to give your week a big poke.
To give you the right attitude.
So you can master all that you must do.

Woman's night & Men's
night!

Wednesday's we have Woman's chat in our WOMAN'S
ROOM !

Come on bring a Topic! Some
weeks we have a guest speaker!

We do this
for one hour from 8PM till 9PM EST. If anyone wants to stay in the woman's
room for longer, feel free to stay. We have had such a great
time it seems for some it's not long enough. Then we rejoin in the
main chat room as always.

BobbyGene
has pastoral training with the Assembly of God and has offered to host
a chat broadly oriented towards prayer as a support method.
As he has stated, "In my training I've had to learn the in's
and outs of many various religions and I believe we could keep the
focus on support and prayer when needed."

We
are providing a special interest room for
those interested in prayer of whatever fashion, and focussed discussion
of prayer as a support mechanism by those so inclined.

Some
of you have met Rod, one of our Florida chatters.
He has been also been known as our DJ ! He has a very large collection
of music.
Rod has offered to do his best to find any song you're looking for, and
email it to
you. He needs the obvious: Name of singer ! Name of song ! He's not a
mind
reader LOL ! You can email him your requests
at: LINGRAM1@TAMPABAY.RR.COM

It tells you how many hours and how many seconds you have been alive on
this earth and when you were probably conceived. How cool is that? This
is cool. After you've finished reading the info, click again, and see
what the moon looked like the night you were born. This is neat. Who
says our time clocks aren't ticking....

If
anyone wants to host a chat Birthday Party, we provide the room, we
clean up! We all have birthdays, some have
Anniversary's. Help make a friend feel very important. We are
all important in chat! Throw a
surprise party for a chat buddy. Thank your best friend for being there
for
you! He or she deserves a party!

If
your birthday is not on our list please tell Linda when in chat! Linda
has been really helping with getting this all organized.

Our objective is to
provide an informal,
supportive site for
people seeking on-line information about Multiple
Sclerosis. We
aren't doctors, we aren't experts. We just live it
everyday. We
formed this site to share what we have learned, provide a focal point
for
exchange of information, and give back to the
community.

Support is a very big
word when it comes to
MS. Doctors
can only tell you so much during an office visit. Leaving
unanswered
questions, concerns and issues. People with any disease can
often
learn
best from each other. To this end we provide a chat forum to
share
information and suggestions, posting of the latest news, and links to
authoritative sources of information.

There are many
informative sites out
there. Visit them
all! You can never have enough information. We
do not intend to compete with any other sites.
Like coffee
shops,
each has it's own unique atmosphere and clientele. There can
never be
enough of them.

Our
chat is open for
anything that
has to do with MS. Some topics are not pleasant. But need to be talked
about. If
you have a problem, no matter what it is, chances are there is someone
in chat
that can help you. The one thing that PWMS will not accept is being
laughed at
for any MS problem. We expect all chatters to be considerate of
others.

We
have appointed Linda-NV Coordinator of RAs.
Our current list of room
administrators is:
Aileen, Bette42, Cookie ,
Debby, Linda-NV, Norma, Soporific, BobbyGene, JackIL, Mike , Mo, and Sumo58. All host at scheduled times
and frequently chat off-hosting hours as
well. They can
help you if you need help.

Chat Etiquette
Reminder

Please make a
point to welcome any new chatter that comes in our room.
Introduce yourself. Don't just be a bump on a log!
Ask if there is anything special they
want to ask
about, know about. Don't ignore the new chatter.
Offer them coffee
and a muffin. Make them feel at home. Don't keep
chattering about
peripheral MS stuff, or off-topic stuff, and ignore a newcomer.

Also
keep in mind that Laws and
Health Care options also vary widely both within countries and across
the
globe. So be sensitive to the personal situations and
tribulations
chatters face. Don't rub in how great things are for
you.

Between
the laughs, a serious
note:We are a support
chat. With that said, we can only help by listening; none of us are
professionals.
In our years of chatting with MSers online, one of the most common
problems is
depression. This is a very serious problem. We do feel
sometimes
just being a
good friend, listening, and kidding around can help. And
sometimes
is just the right thing to turn
the a bad mood around. But when things just don't appear to
be
getting any better in
a reasonable amount of time, and chat is just a temporary fix, it is
time to get professional help. Many times it's as simple as a
medication change. Or something else.

So,
About Our Chat: We
try to maintain a positive, upbeat attitude. We may have MS,
but
MS doesn't have us. It's not the focal point of our existence,
it's just one part. So if there's a problem, no need
to moan
and groan - it just needs solving. Go over it,
around
it, blow it up, or joke about it. We won't ignore
somebody's
problem because it's gross, unseemly, or offends somebody else's
sensibilities. We'll help figure out a solution. If
somebody want's to wallow in their problem, we're not going to be too
sympathetic.